1 dead, 2 injured in Gage Park gang fight

One man was killed and two others injured in the Gage Park neighborhood early Sunday morning during a gang fight between people at a party and a group that had been in a passing vehicle, police said.

A 20-year-old man was killed when he was hit by a car as it fled the scene in the 5700 block of South St. Louis Avenue during the fight about 3:20 a.m., said Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien.

The man was identified as Jose Ibarra, of the 3500 block of West 58th Street, and he was declared dead on the scene at 3:27 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

A 23-year-old man also was struck by the car and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital for treatment of injuries to his arms and legs, while a 25-year-old man suffered stab wounds and was being treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized, O'Brien said. The 20-year-old was declared dead on the scene.

Another New Affairs officer had said this morning that detectives were conducting a homicide investigation.

The fight happened about 3:20 a.m. along Central Park Avenue, which is a single-car-width alley with a raised rail bed on one side and homes on the other along the viaduct.

The fight began when a vehicle drove past a party going on in a garage, and someone at the party, thinking those in the car might be members of a rival gang, threw a brick at the vehicle, police said. Those in the car got out, and the two groups began fighting, ending with the stabbing and the vehicle trying to flee the scene and running over the two men.

It was not until the dust settled that those involved realized that they all were part of the same street gang, police said.

On the scene this morning, a truck sat inside a fence meant to keep people out of the rail bed. The fence had been knocked over and yellow crime tape had been strung between poles that were still upright.